STAND. COM. REP. NO.2886

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: H.B. No. 2558

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 2558, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENT LOANS FOR TEACHERS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to resolve the shortage of teachers in the State's public school system by:

(1) Creating the Hawaii Educator Incentive Program (HEIP) and Special Fund to be administered by a federal credit union that has been contracted to provide financial assistance to teachers who graduate from a state-approved teacher education program and agree to serve in the Department of Education (DOE); and

(2) Establishing eligibility requirements, maximum reimbursement amounts, repayment schedules, and loan forgiveness payment guidelines to implement HEIP;

The Lieutenant Governor, DOE, University of Hawaii, Hawaii State Teacher's Association, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and Hawaii Business Roundtable submitted testimony in support of this measure.

Your Committee recognizes that there is an extreme teacher shortage in Hawaii and steps should be taken to encourage students to become teachers and to remain in Hawaii to have a positive impact on our youth. Approximately 1,000-2,000 new teachers are needed in Hawaii every year, while the UH produces only 450 graduates each year.

Your Committee also recognizes that not all graduates of the UH's College of Education decide to teach in the DOE. Therefore, the DOE recruits teachers from other state-approved teacher education colleges such as Brigham Young University, Chaminade, and Hawaii Pacific University. These institutions assist the State by offsetting the shortage of teachers. Establishing HEIP will increase our pool of teachers in Hawaii and promote retention of our teachers, thereby helping to alleviate the teacher shortage.

Your Committee finds that certain concerns may arise as to the constitutionality of the use of state general funds to support and benefit private educational institutions pursuant to the holding in Spears v. Honda, 51 Haw. 1, 449 P.2d 130 (1968) and Article X, section 1 of the Hawaii State Constitution. However, your Committee finds that HEIP does not provide funds to private educational institutions, even indirectly, nor does it provide preferential treatment to private school students over public school students.

HEIP only provides financial assistance to teacher education students once they have completed school and have been hired by DOE. Therefore, moneys will not be provided indirectly to private institutions since students who receive funds through HEIP will have already paid off their tuition.

Your Committee amended this measure to:

(1) Replace the term "loan forgiveness," "loan," "award," and similar terms with "tuition reimbursement" to reflect the actual nature of the program;

(2) Provide that payments shall commence after the recipient begins work with the DOE, rather than upon graduation;

(3) Designate the DOE rather than UH as the administrator of the program; and

(4) Make a technical amendment.

Your Committee believes that this measure, as amended, will help to ease the financial burden of student loans for future teachers.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2558, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2558, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair